


Hand-In-Hand

by Foxtail-chan (TheTinyFoxtail)



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: Bittersweet, Drabble, F/M, Friendship, Future, Memories, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 16:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3857146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTinyFoxtail/pseuds/Foxtail-chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every once in a while, her hand in another's, she'd be brought back to that one night. Years later, perhaps even decades, she'd remember it like it'd happened yesterday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hand-In-Hand

She rarely thought about him anymore. That boy that had caught her eye during those two years.

As the days ticked on in the real world, turning to weeks and then months and then years, her memories of that place grew more and more sparse. The remembrances seemed to meld into one another until it was all one big blur, as if she'd had the longest and most vivid dream, and the time she'd spent in that world were only in her imagination.

She wondered sometimes, if that was all it was. A dream. It would make things a bit easier if it were.

It was times like those that she found her thoughts drifting to him. He couldn't have been a dream. He was a black-haired nuisance, a welcome nuisance, and one that she realized had somehow been ingrained into her brain for what would probably be eternity for her.

She'd moved on easily enough. She was in the arms of another, happily so, and the boy from that world took a backseat to the newfound love she'd acquired.

However, on cold misty nights, walking down calm desolate streets, her hand in the man's that she'd decided she'd love forever, his face would flash through her mind and her hand would remember that warmth. The warmth brought to her only in a game, through algorithms; a warmth much warmer than she'd ever felt in the real world.

She'd see his face in her mind and feel her hand in his on that one night they lay at the bottom of a pit, staring up at the sky and trusting they'd make it out okay. It was a night she'd never forget. One that she never _wanted_ to forget.

She could find new love, but no matter how strong it was she would still see him. She would secretly wish she could feel that warmth again, from him, and she would look up at the sky and wonder where he was. She'd not met the mysterious solo player in the real world, and she figured she never would.

No matter how much she wanted to move on, she realized she couldn't. Even if she'd only caught his eye for a matter of hours, maybe a day, she would never be able to fully forget the joy that he breathed into her heart. The hope and the happiness that belonged solely to him.

And she was okay with that. He was a distant and fond memory, tearing her heart in ways that were uncomfortable but pleasant. She'd remember him, nothing more, and she'd be okay with that.

She'd squeeze her lover's hand a little tighter and walk on, moving on, just as he had and wondering in excited daydreams what could've ever been if she'd have just gotten to him a little sooner.


End file.
